Grilled Salad with Cream Cheese

It's lunch time. There are no leftovers for me from dinner last night. What should I make?

There are half an onion, half a green pepper, and half a red pepper all staring at me in the fridge.

And cream cheese... and fresh tomatoes... hmmm...

RECIPE: Grilled Salad with Cream Cheese

Ingredients:
half a small onion, sliced
one bell pepper, sliced or chopped
1 tomato, diced
1 dollop low fat cream cheese

Method:
> sauté the onion and pepper in a skillet
> once caramelized, pour into bowl
> add tomatoes, cream cheese, and parsley or cilantro garnish
> season to taste and enjoy!!

There are many variation options for this recipe; here are a few that popped to mind:

This would also be amazing with leftover grilled chicken, fish, or beef in place of the cream cheese.

Add to a bun with leftover steak, melt some mozzarella over the top, and drizzle with garlic mayo, hello Philly Cheese Steak!!

Without the cream cheese, this is a great vegetable side dish with very little work - fresh and grilled!

Subanik / Roasted Aubergine & Mushroom Stew

Subanik / Roasted Aubergine & Mushroom Stew

(serves 6)

Ingredients:

For the sauce

- 4 medium red bell peppers, cut in half from top to bottom, then stemmed and seeded

- 9 roma tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

- 1 onion, cut into quarters

- 4 tomatillos, husks removed

- 1 dried ancho chili pepper, washed inside and out, seeds and stem removed

- 1 dried red chili pepper, such as chili de arbol

- 1 or 2 Thai red chili peppers

For the mushroom and aubergine (eggplant)

- 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

- 1.25 pounds mushrooms

- 1.5 tsp salt

- freshly ground black pepper

- water, as needed

- 1.25 pounds aubergine, cubed into 1-inch pieces

- 2 bay leaves

- 2 to 4 sprigs thyme

Method:

For the sauce

> preheat the oven to 500ºF

> place the red bell peppers on a foil lined baking sheet and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, turning them once or twice, until their skins are blistered with black spots all around

> foil another baking sheet and place the tomatoes and onion cut side down on the sheet, along with the whole tomatillos, dried chili peppers and Thai red chili pepper; roast for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes are quite tender, with blistered skins

> working in several batches, transfer the roasted peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and Thai red chili pepper to a blender; pulse for 1 to 2 minutes for each batch, until a fairly smooth sauce forms; do not over-process the mixture

> break off pieces of the dried chili peppers and add them through the top of the blender while the motor is running; stop to taste, and add more of the dried chili peppers to achieve the desired level of spiciness

For the mushroom and aubergine:

> toss the cleaned mushrooms and cubed aubergine in the oil with thyme and gently salt and pepper

> place on an unlined baking sheet and place into the broiling hot oven

> broil until golden all over, turning a few times

> add a little water to the baking sheet to scrape up the browned on bits from broiling the mushrooms and aubergine; pour over the vegetables

> in a large pot, add together the puréed vegetables, roasted mushroom and eggplant, and the bay leaves

> cover and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the flavors have blended

> salt and pepper to taste

For the full menu of what was served at the Guatemala lunch, go here.  

Mexican Night

I get fully inspired by various cultures... and then I make it my own, usually blending cultures along the way.

Take last night, for example. We had corn tortillas and I was not sure where we would end up, but Mexico was my inspiration and I managed to convince the ingredients to join our culinary adventure.

Madras Roasted Vegetables

If you are looking for a simple, easy, quick, versatile vegetable side dish for anything saucy or curry-ish, THIS dish is for you.

green cardamom pods

Vegetable Soup

There are times when I discover two or more types of leftover roasted, steamed, or otherwise pre-cooked vegetables hiding in the fridge. Just enough to keep, but not enough for anyone's dinner or lunch. The solution? Soup!!

Philly Cheese Steak

Sometimes I think that any cookbook I make might have a full chapter devoted to "things that go on a bun". This sandwich would be in that chapter.

Neither I nor my husband have ever been to the east coast, but this is our best guess at what this legendary sandwich might taste like...

Lazy Pizza

The other day, I decided on pizza for dinner. It was already nearly 5:00 pm and I was low on ideas.

The kids decided on ham, pineapple, and bell pepper pizza. For Chris and I, vegetarian. We picked up two pizza crusts (gasp) at the store and got to making it. I really did not want a tomato pizza sauce, so I made a "white" pizza sauce that worked quite well.

Spring is in the air... And on my table!

It was warm and beautiful yesterday, and also at times today. So lovely in fact, that the only logical option for dinner was pasta salad.

RECIPE: Tuna Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
500 g package of small pasta noodles
500 g frozen peas
1 bell pepper, diced
other veggies, diced (tomato, cucumber, celery, onions, cilantro, green beans, corn, etc.)
spinach, lettuce, or greens of some kind

2 cans tuna, drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise or sour cream
1/2 cup sweet chilli sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp ground)
1/2 tsp ground pepper

Butter Chicken, Re-Invented

The other night, I was feeling lazy about dinner, so I made the Butter Chicken sauce found here (about halfway down the page) and then I defrosted, rinsed, and pulled the tails off a handful of frozen pre-cooked shrimp and added them to the sauce to warm through. I also made rice and some simple steamed veggies.

We ate most of the supper that night and I ended up with just one portion of Butter Chicken Shrimp leftover in the fridge, no veggies or rice.

The next day for lunch, I realized that I had a few fresh veggies, frozen peas, and the leftover curry. Once the curry was heated up, the veggies chopped, and the peas warmed in hot water, lunch was ready!

Saturday Night Wings

I love chicken wings. But I do not like going out for wings, paying at least $12 for a plate of them, and finding only 12 wings (or fewer) on the plate with two dry sticks each of celery and carrot, likely chopped sometime yesterday. Sometimes the proportion of sauce to wing is not right, the wings are not crisp, or something else taints the experience.

My solution? Wings at home. Crisp, excellent wings are totally attainable, with only the basic kitchen tools you already have.

Roasting Vegetables

There is something about this time of year that sends me in search of winter vegetables for roasting. Carrots, yams, parsnips, beets, and various squash all find themselves sliced, tossed in a light oil, salted & peppered, and laying patiently on my roasting pan, awaiting the scorching heat of the broiler.